Mother
by 206
Summary: A case hits close to home for Booth and he finds himself remembering something about his mother.


**A/N: This originally was for Physical Evidence but didn't really fit in with the other one-shots so I am putting it by itself.**

_Seven year old Seeley Booth ran into the apartment, his five year old brother right on his heels and their grandparents following them holding a cake and some presents. It was Seeley's birthday. _

"_Seeley dear, why don't you go wake up your mother. She said she was going to take a nap when we left." Their grandmother said, setting the cake on the table and helping Jared out of his jacket while their grandfather began taking presents out of the bag._

"_Okay." Seeley said excitedly as he raced through the small apartment to his parent's bedroom. Their father was still downstairs in his barber shop so Seeley did not have to worry about making noise. _

"_AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" Pops dropped the bag of presents and raced into the room telling his wife to keep Jared in the living room. _

"_NO! NO! Pops, she's bleeding! She's bleeding!!" Seeley yelled as Pops picked him up and carried him back to the living room. Seeley struggled, yelling "She's bleeding! Let me go, she's bleeding" and squirming trying to get free. Tears were cascading down his face as he screamed and struggled._

"_Call 911" Pops said to Nana. She stood frozen for a moment before hurriedly grabbing the phone. Seeley was still crying and screaming that she was bleeding and needed help when his father came up a few minutes later to see what all the noise was about._

"_Go check your room." Hank said to his son. Joe Booth walked into the room to see his wife dead on their bed. A razor was on the nightstand and the sheets were covered with blood. Her eyes were open and she seemed to be staring into space, her face frozen in an awed expression. Joe's eyes grew wide at the site, he involuntarily took a few steps back, colliding with the dresser and knocking over a few of the framed photos. The paramedics arrived and efficiently covered her body and placed her on a stretcher. Joe Booth sunk to the floor, head in his hands. How could his wife do this to him? _

_Nana had taken Jared into the boy's bedroom while Pops was attempting to calm Seeley in the living room. Seeley's hands and forearms were covered in his mother's blood from trying to stop the bleeding. As the paramedics wheeled his mother out Seeley caught a glimpse of her face and finally stopped crying. His mother was dead. _

"_Seeley it's going to be alright." His Pops whispered consolingly. Seeley didn't respond. He didn't respond when his father finally came out of the bedroom and sat down on the couch.  
"When is mommy coming back?" Jared asked as he entered the room a few minutes later. Seeley felt numb, the tears began to flow again but he didn't make a sound._

"What are you thinking about?" Brennan asked him as they sat on the steps of the Lincoln memorial. Booth didn't respond right away, he simply stared out into the night.

"The victim." He said quietly.

"She committed suicide. At least it wasn't a murder." Brennan attempted to be consoling.

"My mother committed suicide when I was seven." Booth found himself speaking before he could stop himself. He had never told anyone the truth about his mother. He always said she went away when he was a boy. Brennan was taken aback by this news. Booth did not openly share things about his past often, and this was something incredibly painful. She realized that all the stories of his mother's jingles and her meatloaf were intended to make people think she simply left one day alive and not looked back.

"I'm sorry Booth." She said sincerely.

"It was my fault." His voice wavered slightly.

"What?" Brennan gave him a confused look.

"I wasn't good enough. I wasn't good enough to stop my dad from beating her, beating me and Jared."

"Booth you were seven years old. It would have been impossible for you to do anything to stop your father short of committing patricide." Brennan told him quickly; the idea that he blamed himself for his mother's death was appalling.

"You are not responsible for her death Booth. You didn't kill her. If it was anyone's fault it was your father. He is the one who made her life miserable." Brennan stated hoping to reassure him. She put her arm around him and pulled him closer and placing her head on his shoulder, he rested his head on top of hers.

"You know Jared doesn't remember her at all. He was five when she died. He doesn't remember ever having a mother. I don't either really. It was such a long time ago. But sometimes…like with this case, I just think of her. Of what might have been if she hadn't killed herself that day."

"She would be very proud of you Booth." Brennan said her voice full of certainty. "Any mother would be extremely proud of you. I'm proud of you." Booth let out a shaky breath.

"Thanks Bones." He whispered, scared that he would start crying if he spoke any louder. One errant tear had already escaped his eye but he refused to let the others fall.

"You're a good man Booth."


End file.
